Milan, January 17 – Milan prosecutors say they have “ample evidence” Premier Silvio Berlusconi paid for sex with young women at his residences, according to a formal request sent Monday to parliament asking for permission to search the office of the premier’s accountant.

“A significant number of young women prostituted themselves with Silvio Berlusconi at his residences in exchange for sums of money,” the request said.

As well as money, the women received free housing in the plush Milan district built by Berlusconi in the late 1970s before he became a media magnate, the prosecutors said.

Berlusconi, 74, who denies the allegations stemming from a probe into underage prostitution, said in a TV message Sunday that he had never paid for sex and was in a steady relationship with an unnamed woman.

They said they had discovered this from examining the phone records of the young woman, Karima El Mahroug, 17 at the time. In a tapped conversation between two other women released Monday, one allegedly said to the other: “the papers say much less than the truth, even when they massacre him (Berlusconi).

“Either you’re up for everything or else you can get a taxi and leave,” the woman added.

The prosecutors meanwhile said they would press on “serenely” in the probe despite the premier’s claim they were politically motivated.

On Sunday Berlusconi accused the prosecutors of waging “political battles” and “illegitimately using their powers” to try to bring him down.

In reply Monday, Chief Prosecutor Edmondo Bruti Liberati said the probe had been “obligatory” because of incriminating evidence taken last year, first from the phone records of El Mahroug, better known under her stage name Ruby Rubacuore (‘Ruby the Heart-Stealer’).

Bruti Liberati also cited the Constitutional principle that everyone is presumed innocent until receiving a definitive sentence in Italy’s three-tier justice system, a process that can take years.

The prosecutors have asked for a fast-track trial in the case and summoned Berlusconi for questioning at the end of this week, but the premier’s lawyers have indicated he may not answer the summons.

Ruby has admitted attending three parties at Berlusconi’s residence outside Milan and said she received 7,000 euros ($9,400) from him, but denies having sex.

Paying for sex with a minor currently carries a jail sentence of three years but parliament is in the process of ratifying an international convention that would raise the penalty to six years.

In a TV message on Sunday, Berlusconi reiterated he had never paid for sex in his life, calling the notion “absurd”.

The premier also revealed that he had been in a steady relationship since separating from his wife in 2009 when she accused him of “frequenting minors” after he attended the 18th birthday party of a Neapolitan aspiring actress who says she often visited him and called him “Daddy”.

Berlusconi said he had not wanted to name his companion so as to keep her out of the media glare.

As well as facing possible prostitution charges, Berlusconi is also under investigation for alleged abuse of power in getting Ruby out of a scrape on the night of May 27-28.

Berlusconi allegedly asked for Ruby to be released after an allegation of theft because she was, he said, the granddaughter of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

He has said he believed her when the girl, daughter of a street vendor, told him this, as well as saying she was 24. Berlusconi has denied abuse of power, saying he only inquired about the case. He says this version of events has been corroborated by police.

After phoning Milan’s main police station to inquire about Ruby, Berlusconi sent a Lombardy regional councillor, his former dental hygienist Nicole Minetti, to take her under her wing, but the girl eventually went away with a Brazilian prostitute.

Minetti is under investigation for allegedly procuring prostitutes along with two of Berlusconi’s close friends, veteran TV anchor Emilio Fede and showbiz talent scout Lele Mora, who the premier has admitted helping with debts.

El Mahroug, who has been in and out of homes after running away from her religiously observant family, was depicted by the premier as a “tragic” figure he helped out because of his natural generosity.

Berlusconi deflected attention from the scandal with trademark quips about his well-known liking for girls and controversially added that liking beautiful women was better than being gay.

Berlusconi and his supporters claim the probe is another “clockwork justice” stunt aimed at undermining the premier, who is struggling to widen his House majority after a wafer-thin victory in a confidence vote last month.

Italy’s prime minister pledges to punish magistrates who mounted an investigation over allegations he paid an under-age prostitute: here.

6 thoughts on “Berlusconi sex scandals investigated”

‘Hush it up’, Ruby claims she was told – wiretap (see previous story on site).

(ANSA) – Rome, January 17 – A teenage Moroccan belly dancer allegedly paid by Premier Silvio Berlusconi for sex was told by the premier to hush up the affair, according to wiretap evidence released by prosecutors Monday.

“He called me, telling me ‘Ruby, I’ll give you as much money as you want, I’ll pay you, I’ll cover you in gold, but the important thing is that you hide everything; don’t tell anyone anything,” Karima El Mahroug aka Ruby is heard saying in an October call to a former boyfriend, according to a transcript from the prosecutors who are bidding to try the premier for using an underage prostitute.

The premier, who denies wrongdoing, has said no sex parties ever took place at his Milan residence and added that he has been in a steady relationship for some time with someone who would never have allowed such “absurd” events as those reported in the wiretaps.

In another wiretap, Ruby tells the ex-boyfriend her case has “scared everyone”, more than two others that made headlines in 2009: a teenage Neapolitan aspiring starlet, Noemi Letizia, over whom the premier’s wife sued for divorce; and an escort, Patrizia D’Addario, who taped the premier before and after alleged sex.

“My case is the one that has scared everyone and is surpassing the case of D’Addario and Letizia. I spoke to Silvio and told him I want to get out of it with something: five million (euros),” Ruby says on the wiretap.

In another wiretap, ex-Naples prefect and former national anti-racket commissioner Carlo Ferrigno is heard saying “there were orgies but no drugs” at the premier’s paries.

Paying for sex with a minor carries a jail term of up to three years in Italy.

Berlusconi is also alleged to have abused his power in getting Ruby out of an unrelated scrape with Milan police, an offence that carries a jail term of up to 12 years.

(ANSA) – Rome, January 26 – Milan prosecutors sent over 300 pages of documentation to parliament Wednesday to support a request for searches in a probe into allegations Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi used an underage prostitute called Ruby.

The prosecutors also summoned for questioning Nicole Minetti, Berlusconi’s former dental hygienist who is now a Lombardy regional councilor for his People of Freedom (PdL) party and is under investigation for allegedly procuring prostitutes.

Berlusconi denies paying for sex with young women including Ruby, a teenage Moroccan belly dancer whose real name is Karima El Mahroug and was 17 at the time of her alleged relations with the premier.

The material sent to parliament regards permission to search the offices of the premier’s accountant, Giuseppe Spinelli. ”Today at 13.33 the House Speaker received further documentation from the Milan Prosecutors’ Office in addition to the material sent on January 14 in relation to a request for permission to carry out domicile searches regarding the Right Honourable Berlusconi,” read a statement.

The statement was initially thought to concern a request to search Berlusconi’s home, but judicial sources subsequently clarified that this was not the case. ”New elements have emerged to support the hypothesis that there are papers and documents regarding the affair in Giuseppe Spinelli’s offices,” Milan Prosecutor Edmondo Bruti Liberati said in a statement.

Bruti Liberati’s team had already sent the House almost 500 pages of evidence when first making their request earlier this month.

The House statement added that the documents had been forwarded to Speaker Gianfranco Fini and the head of a panel of MPs tasked with handling such requests. The panel had been set to examine the request on Wednesday but this has now been postponed until Thursday.

Minetti is one of the women named in the media as possible girlfriends of Berlusconi following a recent video message in which he described the allegations as ”absurd”, in part because he is in a steady relationship.

She is also involved in separate allegations that Berlusconi abused power last year by pressuring police in Milan to release Ruby when she was taken into custody on suspicion of theft.

Berlusconi told the police Ruby was the granddaughter of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and sent Minetti to take the teen, who is now 18, under her wing, although she ended up leaving the station with a Brazilian prostitute.

On Tuesday Ruby said she had told Berlusconi she was Mubarak’s granddaughter.

The scandal has had Italy in a state of shock and hit international headlines for almost two weeks, prompting the Catholic Church and business leaders to express concern and opposition parties to demand Berlusconi quit.

However, Berlusconi, who claims he is the victim of biased leftist prosecutors who want to oust him, said Wednesday the furore will blow over and he will stay at the helm of government.

ITALY: Silvio Berlusconi’s sleaze-tainted administration took action on Wednesday against adverts that use vulgar images of the female body.

Equality Minister Mara Carfagna, a former topless model, signed a protocol with an association of advertisers and other industry operators to set up a panel that could ban “plainly wrong, dangerous, vulgar and offensive” ads.

Ms Carfagna fended off questions during a press conference about Mr Berlusconi, who is under investigation in Milan on suspicion that he paid for sex with a teenager.